I. Field of the Present Invention
The present invention relates generally to gutter systems for buildings, and more particularly, to a device intended for use with rain gutters having means for separating solid debris such as leaves from the flow of water through the downspout of the gutter system.
II. Description of the Prior Art
Gutters are well known, open-topped channel devices attached to building constructions adjacent the roof edge to collect rain water deposited on the roof and direct it away from the structure of the building through a downspout. It is also well known that the open-topped gutters are exposed to loose debris and that water introduced into the gutters and directed through the downspouts often contains leaves, sticks and other debris which has accumulated on the roof and is washed into the gutter. Such debris often accumulates in and thus clogs the downspouts and prevents the gutter system from directing the fluid away from the building. Oftentimes clogging of the gutter system causes water to spill over the edges of the gutters and along the walls of the building, thereby damaging or defacing the building structure.
In order to prevent the accumulation and clogging of debris within the downspouts of the gutter system, it has been known to position a screen over the top of the gutter or the downspout opening so that the leaves and other debris cannot enter into the downspout. However, covering the top opening of the gutter or downspout with a screen causes the debris to accumulate on top of the screen and, thus, interferes with the flow of water into the downspout unless the debris collected on the screen is removed at frequent intervals.
A previously known device which continuously separates debris from the water flowing into the downspout is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 2,090,997 to French. French discloses a rectangular casing having circular aligned openings in the top and bottom as well as an opening in one side of the casing. A plurality of curved guides with rounded edges are secured at one end to the side wall below the side opening and extend upwardly to be secured at their other end to the opposite side of the casing so as to extend across the fluid path between the upper and lower openings. Thus, the guides are designed to catch the solid debris and slide it toward the opening by the force of the water running along the flat sides of the curves. In addition, the casing includes a baffle depending downwardly beneath a portion of the top opening so that water falling through the opening is deflected toward the guides and forces the water as well as the debris against the guides.
While the French patent teaches that it is intended that the water will pass through the guides and continue out through the lower opening, while the debris slides out through the side opening, the shape of the guides as well as the deflector panel contribute to the flow of water along the guides as well as splashing of water. Therefore, the guides divert the water away from the lower opening, whereby a portion of the water splashes or flows out through the side opening. Thus, a portion of the rainwater flowing through the casing fails to reach the lower opening into the downspout, being diverted out through the side opening, thus, preventing the downspout from collecting all of the water entering the gutter and decreasing the efficiency of the gutter system to direct water away from the building structure or the ground surface below. Moreover, since the lowermost portion of the curved guides is nearly horizontal, debris may not slide as quickly, and can even accumulate, along the lower portion of the guides and, thus, contributes to splashing and diversion of the water from the downspout. Therefore, the device permits undesirable leakage of water which passes out of the side opening of the separator.